The Dance
by absoluteleigh
Summary: Dawn doesn't want to miss out on anything important.


All the potentials had been kicked out of her room nearly two hours ago. They had tried to fight her, treat her as if she didn't have the right. It was still her house, her room wasn't it? The fact that they were wanna-be slayers didn't mean spit to Dawn.

"_Get out." Dawn stated flatly, not caring much about their feelings at this point._

"_What'd you say mouse?" One of the tall ones piped up._

"_Get. Out."_

"_Or what?" Another challenged._

_Dawn gave them the coldest stare she could muster._

"_You heard her. Get out." A voice from the hallway. All the girls turned their heads in near unison toward it. One look at the voice and they knew they had met their match. Sighs and mutters and sayings under the breath were heard as they collected their things and moved out of the room._

"_You're such a freak," one added just before she exited the bedroom._

_Dawn looked through the corner of the opened door from where the voice came. _

"_Thanks, Spike." With a nod, Spike closed the door and left her to herself._

Dawn reveled in the quiet for a few moments before she went about her task. She rested on her bed and took a few deep, slow, breaths to calm herself. Once she felt more relaxed, she picked up the hair brush that sat on her night stand and began making slow strides through her long, shiny hair. It felt nice. It felt _normal._ More normal than she had felt the past few weeks.

When she was satisfied the knots and tangles were gone from her hair, Dawn placed the brush back onto the night stand and made her way into her adjoining bathroom. She pulled out her electric rollers and curling iron into the outlets next to her sink and let them sit. While she waited she decided to file her nails and buff them to a nice shine. She did the same to her toenails.

After a few minutes Dawn pulled her long sleeve shirt over her head and replaced it with her white cotton bathrobe. The rollers were hot and she seared her fingers slightly trying to get to them. She rolled several even chunks of hair into the steamy rollers. While she waited for those to cool, she ducked down to the cabinet under the sink and reached for her make up bag. There were so many containers; some old, some new. Some even unusable. She sorted through them and found the ones she wanted.

She powdered her face with the light foundation first to cover any redness or blemishes she had. Next were the eyes. She lined them lightly with the charcoal eyeliner and pulled back to look at her reflection. She smiled lightly at the way the product made her eye color pop. Then she lightly stroked her lids with a shimmery dark color to accent the eyeliner. It was an ever so subtle shadow. She had to dig to the bottom of her make up bag to find the pink handled eyelash curler. Buffy had showed her how to do that. Dawn was surprised at the difference it had made the first time she tried it. Mascara followed and her eyes were set.

A little blush was all it took to flush her face to the way she wanted it. Doing her lips was her favorite part. She liked to line the edges just a touch to make them look the slightest bit fuller. After that, she would smudge the lipstick on pop her lips together. When Joyce and Dawn had played make up when she was younger, that was always the way you knew you were done putting your make up on. It made her giggle at the thought. She wished her mom was here. Not dead, The First mom, but _her_ mom.

By the time she was finished applying her make up, the rollers in Dawn's hair had cooled down enough to be take down. She unscrewed them one by one watching them bounce. When they were all done away with, she shook her head lightly and let the curls fall. Then she began twisting and pinning and fluffing her hair to the way she liked. She pulled all of her hair back with a slight puff at the front. She made the back a little messy and then used her curling iron to fix a few strands. Standing in the mirror, she looked back at herself and was satisfied. This is what she had hoped to look like.

She left her small teal green bathroom to go to her closet. She had to hunt a bit as she had hid the garment away from anyone who might go prying through her things. She finally stretched her hands far enough back into the closet that she was able to grasp on to it. The garment was covered in shiny see through plastic wrap. She removed it eagerly to get to her dress. It was white chiffon and satin. The chiffon made an "X" on her neckline and tied into a little knot in the small of her back. The satin was an empire waist cut and fell right to the floor. She slid into it through the middle and fastened the zipper on the side. Her shoes were in the closet. White satin flats. She didn't feel the need to go overly fancy on a pair of shoes that no one would see. She felt the cool slick material of the sole as she slipped them on. Finally she went to stand in her full length mirror. She smoothed her hands down the side of her dress and sighed deeply.

"Nice dress," she heard over her shoulder. It startled her a little, but she had learned to hide it.

"Thanks," she answered softly. She could smell the smoke from the window. Spike was sitting on the roof.

"What's the occasion?"

"Prom."

A slight chuckle. "School's been closed down for a couple weeks, pet. Don't think anyone's going to be there."

"I'm not _going_ there, Spike. I just wanted…to know what's it like, I guess. As much as I could anyway."

Spike gave an unnecessary sigh. She hadn't been able to experience much in her short life. So many things had been ripped away from her without notice. She wasn't going to be able to experience her high school prom. Didn't seem like she was even going to be able to have a proper graduation. Spike threw his cigarette down onto the lawn and crawled through the window.

"Care for a walk pet?"

"Spike, you don't have to do this. I just wanted to put my dress on."

"I'm not _doing _anything. I only asked if you wanted to go for a walk."

Dawn smoothed her hands down her dress again. "Sure."

So they took the stairs down to the front door. Most of the girls were looking at her new appearance with questioning eyes. When Spike opened the door, one of the girls piped up again.

"Where are _you going?"_

"_Out," Spike glared. The other girl shut her mouth and looked at the floor._

_Dawn didn't know where they were going. She kind of just followed the direction of Spike's boots. He didn't speak for a long time as they made their way down Rovello Drive._

"_Why the white?" He finally broke the silence._

"_It's the same color as Buffy's dress." After all they had been through, Dawn still adored her big sister._

_Spike half smiled thoughtfully. By this time they had reached the small park down the street. Spike had stopped walking and Dawn followed suit. They stood awkwardly for a few moments. Spike shifted his weight from one foot to the other while Dawn fidgeted with her fingers. After a another minute, Spike was tired of her fidgeting. He gently took her left hand in his right leading is slowly up to his shoulder. Dawn made a some what uncomfortable face. Spike looked back into her blue eyes and took her right hand and snuck his now free hand around her back. Dawn's eyebrows furrowed and she blinked repeatedly. Spike realized that she was fighting back tears._

"_Shhh, love," he whispered as he drew her in closer. She rested her head in the crook of his neck. "Don't cry. Just wanted to help."_

"_I just wanted to feel pretty. Wanted to have a good time. Even if I had to pretend," she whispered through choked sobs._

"_Dawn. Bit. Look at me." He lifted her chin with his hand. "You are so so pretty. You're beautiful. Don't ever let anyone tell you different." _

_Dawn looked him in the eye as he said the words and then returned her head to his shoulder. Spike held onto her porcelain fingers ever so gently and began to sway back and forth. He even began to hum a little tune. They were dancing._

_Dawn sniffled, but smiled into the vampire's neck. She didn't want to pretend anymore. She was perfectly content standing in the chilly park listening to his soft humming and swaying in his arms. _


End file.
